Honda is showing the world that it is taking automobile safety to a whole new level with its Automatic Emergency Braking System, Green Wave, and i-ACC Technologies. All of these technologies, when fully implemented, will save the lives of drivers, passengers and pedestrians. In fact, it is estimated that the Automatic Emergency Braking Technology will prevent about 90 percent of all pedestrian fatalities occurring under 37 miles per hour.

That is a lot of families who could spared a lot of heartache.

Here’s the rundown of these incredible technologies:

Honda’s Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB): this technology causes your car to sound an alarm when you are approaching something (or someone) that you could possibly collide with on the front end. Besides sounding the alarm, your Honda will apply the brakes for you if a front-end collision is imminent.

“AEB uses input from a windshield-mounted camera and a millimeter-wave radar sensor in the car’s grille. That allows the car to determine the position, speed, and even direction of a pedestrian. The system can also prevent crashes with cars or other solid objects that are at least one meter (three feet) tall.

Automobilemag.com got to test drive the new safety equipment and said the AEB proved very effective at stopping when a pedestrian cut-out was stationary in front of the car and thrown out in front of the car (to simulate someone falling/jumping in front of the vehicle).

Green Wave technology: I was confused by this name, thinking it was some sort of environmental technology (and it is in a round-about way), but what it really means is for drivers to ride a wave of green lights. Really.

Traffic lights in Japan emit infared transmissions, so Honda’s with the Green Wave technology are equipped with receivers that interpret that information that tell the driver of the car how fast to drive/when to start braking in and effort to promote safety (ie not slamming on your brakes) and better fuel economy.

“The first part of the Green Wave recommends a driving speed at which the car will reach the next traffic light when it’s green. In our test Japanese-market Honda Odyssey, this meant we traveled at 26 mph while a control car in the adjacent lane drove at about 35 mph. While the other car had to brake, stop at a simulated red light, and then accelerate again, we breezed through the fake intersection about five seconds after the light turned green. This is designed to promote smoother, more fuel-efficient urban driving, and to reduce the risk of rear-end collisions from frequent stop-and-go traffic. “

The article notes that some drivers my be confused why you are driving 25 mph so you can hit the next light when it’s green when the speed limit is 35 mph, but who cares what people think when you roll through that light and they’re still stuck at the light? J If you do get stuck at a light, the Green Wave technology will tell drivers when the light is estimated to turn green so they can get going and avoid getting rear-ended by impatient or inattentive driver behind them.

i-ACC Cruise Control with Cut-in Prediction: This technology fixes a big problem (or at least annoyance) for me as a driver. We have all experienced it: you’re driving on the freeway and just set your cruise control only to some jerk…er…neighborly fellow-driver…cut in front of you and go sloooow. Not only do you have to pay attention to make sure you don’t collide with that car, but then you have to reset your cruise control.

Well, i-ACC Cruise Control with Cut-in Prediction technology fixes all of this. “Honda’s system, by contrast, guesses when a car in an adjacent lane may move over and adjusts its speed pro-actively.

i-ACC uses a camera and radar to track up to six vehicles, and uses information like closing speeds between vehicles to determine which cars are likely to change lanes. “Honda says Cut-In Prediction can react up to five seconds earlier than normal adaptive cruise control, keeping a safer distance between vehicles and also saving fuel by driving more smoothly. The front-facing camera can also be tasked with lane-departure warning and traffic-sign recognition duties. Honda showed a static demo of i-ACC in an Accord sedan, but didn’t allow us to test the system.”